Love Through the Seasons
by SilverSnowflake9798
Summary: Birthday present for my friend. A bunch of one-shots set during different seasons of the year. Includes couples Tonks Lupin, Draco Luna, Harry Ginny, and a bonus chapter for her at the end. Enjoy!
1. Fall

**Fall**

If it was a normal year, Tonks would have been celebrating. It was her absolute favourite time of year.

But she couldn't even bring herself to smile.

There were a few things contributing to this. The one that had lasted for a while was depression. Her cousin had died at the hands of his own cousin only a few months ago. Part of her felt like she didn't have the right to mourn the death of Sirius. She knew she wasn't as close to him as others were. They'd only met a while before that. Yet…it still hurt that he was gone. When she'd started to get to know him she'd thought she'd have much more time with him. Maybe finally have a family member on her mother's side who didn't hate muggles. But those dreams were whisked away, taking a piece of her heart with her. Perhaps it wasn't as big as others, but part was still missing.

Along with that there was the worry. Worry, with he who should not be….no, Voldemort's return. Many people, good people, were going missing. Most of them had nothing to do with him or the death eaters. She wondered if they were hurting people just to spite the Order. Couldn't they just leave people in peace? What good did it do? No, it was obvious what it did. It caused a worry through the people, the exact worry she was feeling. She wanted to kick herself, feeling like she was falling right into their plans.

At the moment however, her adamant feeling was confusion and stress. _Why has he called me?_

Trudging silently through the forbidden forest she went over the letter Lupin had sent her in her head. _Come to the Forbidden Forest, by the tallest tree you can find. Hurry!-Lupin._ Yeah, because that wasn't ominous. The tallest tree she could find? Did he have any idea how many trees there were? No, of course he knew. He'd been hiding with werewolves for months. But what could be so urgent that he'd call her out with such vague instructions and no explanation? Of course she came right away, but some more information would be nice.

Not even the warm colours of fall were able to cheer her nerves. She'd always loved the sight of the orange, yellow and red leaves in fall. As she walked through they fell all around her, making piles in the ground and crunching under her feet. When she was little she'd try and catch them and make her hair change to fit the colour. It had made her feel connected with the world, however cheesy that was. She was just a kid at the time. Even when she'd grown out of that, she continued to look on the leaves with fondness.

She was just too worried to pay any attention to them. And that was saying something.

 _Tallest tree…tallest tree….Where is the tallest tree? That big guy had said it would be right around here!_ In desperation she'd asked the man others called Hagrid for help, and he'd told her what tree he personally thought was the tallest. Eventually she found her way to the one he had spoken of. It was already surrounded by piles of leaves that were so tall they were bigger than her. One of them suspiciously looked like it was moving. She didn't pay attention to that. There was Lupin that she needed to worry about.

Only problem was, when she got there, Lupin was not there to greet her. _WHY IS HE NOT HERE, WHAT HAPPENED DID HE GET HURT?_ Though she hadn't been told much, she knew enough about the dangers of working undercover against werewolves. She felt her hair turn sheet white from her fear against her will.

"Lupin? LUPIN!" There was no answer, just the rush of wind that swept past her. No. She could not lose Lupin. Not him, definitely not him. "LUPIN!"

"ROAR!"

Gasping in a very un-aurora like way, she fell on her back in terror. A body jumped out of leaves, scaring the living daylights out of her. Before she could even register what just happened she snatched her wand from her coat. "S-stpupdify!" The body was thrown back against the tree, letting out a loud grunt as he fell back into the leaves. Still shocked and gasping, she pushed away all the trees to get a better look at her attacker.

A pair of hands were held up. "Tonks, don't attack! It's just me, it's just Lupin!"

Immediately she stopped. But she didn't put her wand down until Lupin fully emerged from the pile of leaves. He was wearing the same tattered clothes he normally did and sported a few scratches on his hands and around his neck. Other than that, he was fine. Absolutely perfectly fine. No life threatening situation, no dark secret to share, nothing to have made her worry so much. "Lupin! Why did you just jump out at me like that? And why did you call me all the way down here if nothing's wrong? You look fine!" She was going to say 'handsome,' but luckily she bit her lip before it could betray her.

He brushed a few leaves off of his coat as he stepped out of the large pile. Was it her imagination, or was he blushing. "I didn't call you out for an emergency. Everything's fine. I called you out here to…to try and cheer you up." Tonk's felt her mouth drop open. Lupin hurried to explain. "You've been so depressed lately, I wanted to do something! I haven't been able to talk to you much while I've been undercover and you've been busy lately. So I thought this was the only way I could get you here…" His explanation didn't do her any good. She continued to stare at him as his face got redder and redder with every passing second.

When she finally was able to speak, it was hard to get the words right. "You…Wanted to cheer me up…by scaring me?" He shook his head again.

"N-not to scare you per say…I mean, I guess it would at first, but I thought you would find it funny afterwards…You always loved those practical jokes the weasley boys played…" Was that his attempt at a practical joke? To cut him some slack, he usually was such a serious person. Other than crack a few jokes he never was that much of a jokester. Actually he told her he thought practical jokes were childish and said he'd be ashamed with himself if he ever decided to do one for real.

He'd do that for him?

Ignoring the blush coming to her cheeks she tried to make sense of everything. "You…you're supposed to be undercover! It's not safe for you to see me! Won't they smell me on you or something?"

"Yes."

"It's incredibly risky!"

"Yes."

"You are supposed to be the logical one of the two of us! You're supposed to tell me not to goof off and do something silly, not the other way around!"

"Yes."

"They why did you do it Lupin?"

"Why?"

"Yes, why?" She threw her hands up in the air. "Why would you pull a practical joke when I know you hate practical jokes, why would you risk blowing your cover and why would you send me such a vague message to get me out here? Just to-to cheer me up? Why would you do that just to cheer me up?" Her hair was probably turning a deep shade of red. She made a mental note to change it back to the orange of the leaves later. Lupin stared back at her like she was the one acting out of character, not him.

"Because…Well, for selfish reasons I suppose."

Tonks huffed. "Selfish reasons?"

"Yes, selfish reasons. I just can't stand it when you are upset."

Tonks stopped. He'd…done all that…because he couldn't stand seeing her upset? Did her happiness really mean that much to him? As she tried to deeply analyze every single word of his he went on, saying how she was usually so full of life and that things just weren't the same when she was unhappy. He mentioned how he'd heard her saying how much she loved the leaves changing and did all he could to find a way to get her out of her duties so she could go enjoy them.

"Did you know," He added cheerfully, trying to calm her down. "In muggle lore, it says that whenever you catch a falling leaf, you get a wish." As he spoke a breeze went through the leaves. Reaching out he caught a large yellow one easily. "Right now I wish you would say something. I really didn't mean to upset you."

At his tone Tonks snapped out of her reverie. Slowly, a sneaky grin slipped onto her face. "Oh yeah? Well I," She paused, reaching out and grabbing a red leaf just before it hit the ground. "Hadn't put me in danger just to catch some leaves with me." Her words were harsh, but she couldn't deny the smile on her face.

When he saw it, Lupin felt a little better. "How about I-Hold on." He had to run over a bit to catch an orange one that had tried to escape. "I wish you wouldn't feel so bad about this so you can enjoy it."

"Fine. How about I just wish-Oh, get back here!" Lupin laughed when Tonks sprinted after one very persistent leaf that would not be caught.

She had no chance when it fell to the ground before she could reach it. "You didn't catch it Tonks, you don't get a wish!" He called to her.

"You just wait! More leaves ought to fall soon!" Lupin just continued to laugh.

They didn't know how it happened, but somehow it did. In the middle of the forbidden forest, filled with dangerous creatures that could kill the both on the spot, they started catching leaves. It became some sort of competition, trying to see who could catch the most leaves and who could come up with the most creative wishes. Lupin was quicker so he caught more leaves than her, but she was much more creative with her wishes. Tonks laughed the whole time the leaves covered them. She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed that much. It definitely was something she missed.

The last wish that Tonks made, she kept a secret from Lupin.

She wished that the fall would last forever.


	2. Winter

**Winter**

Whatever horrible wizard had cursed him so that he always lost his way in Hogwarts, he hoped would die a slow, painful death. And Malfoy hoped he was there. To laugh.

Cursing his rotten luck he trudged through the halls of the school. It was only a few hours until they were supposed to be in their common rooms, yet all the hallways were desserted aside from Draco. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. Hogwarts buildings were magically enchanted to keep the warmth in during the colder seasons. The only problem with that was that sometimes there wasn't enough warmth to go around. The warmest places in the school was the great hall, the common rooms and, ironically, the potions room. Since dinner already finished and Draco had NO desire to go to a classroom at the end of a Friday, his destination of choise was the Slytherin common room. That SHOULD have been an easy task.

Hogwarts school seemed to have a different plan in mind for him. Every staircase he took would spin around and lead him to a different hall than the one he was going for. Hallways that he thought he had memorised over the years would lead him to a dead end. Even some of the doors that he knew did not require a passward would lock themselves unless he told the portaits the right words. Since there WERE no right words, he was stuck. No amount of magic or yelling would get them to change their mind. Maybe it was revenge for when he and some of the other Slytherin boys had been throwing snow around inside. The only people that he saw in his journey was an odd looking women who's hair kept changing colours, and the man that she clung to who hid his profile under a cloak. It was so odd that after they had passed Draco half convinced himself they had been a hallucination.

It was a conspiracy! Hogwarts was trying to make him freeze to death! The only thing that kept him going was the anticipation of seeing his father's expression when he told him what happened. He may even get to see another shouting match between him and that old fool they had for a headmaster. His friends at the common room would be waiting for him. Crabbe and Goyle would be so worried they might get him some butterbear to warm him up. Pansy would fuss all over him and not leave his side. That would be entertaining.

At the moment however, he was grumbling while trying to keep warm under his uniform cloak. His clothers were the absolute finest, designed to keep in the warmth. But on that cold winter's night the snowfall outside made it hard to find any warmth to keep in. A snowfall! Just the time to get lost! When one door refused to open he kicked it in anger before resentfully turning down an unfamiliar corridor. Best to keep moving. To his despair it was a hall with open windows that showed the lake outside. While he cursed loudly he hugged his cloak tighter to fight the wind. "Whichever bloody idiot thought it was a good idea to build open windows in a school by the lake aught to be hanged," he grunted.

As he passed he caught sight of something out of the courner of his eye. Something on the lake? But he had to have imagned it. Who in their right mind would be outside on such an awful-

Then it hit him. Not everyone in the school was in their right mind.

Out of what he convinced himself was just boredom he leaned over to try and get a better glimpse. It looked like a girl…dancing? No, he realized, she was skating. Quite an odd skating form. She waved her hands around her head as if making tornados in the air, and her feet sliced through the ice to make odd crude shapes. Even from where he stood he could see the smile on her face. How mad did someone have to be to enjoy doing anything as the freezing snow covered her? How mental, how insane, exactly how-

Loony.

Loony Lovegood.

There was no one else it could be. Luna glided around on the ice like she owned it, dancing in ways that Draco didn't really understand. But surely even SHE couldn't have enjoyed herself in the snow? After a thought he wondered how she had even gotten out there anyway. All the students were supposed to be inside. Sure, he knew a few ways to sneak around undetected, but her? Unless it was to help out Potter or to follow some advice figen to her in one of those ridiculous magazines, she never broke the school rules. Maybe the magazine WAS the reason she was out there.

With slight horror he realized he was very curious. He desperately wanted to know why Luna was outside. Why? He justified that if she had a bad reason, then he could get her in trouble, and wouldn't hurting one of Potter's friends be worth it?

Without giving it much thought, he decided to brave the snow and sneak over there. For some reason while the school didn't want to let him get warm, it had no problem with him getting cold. There was no resitance as he pushed through the secret hallways to find a way out to the lake. If a professor other than Snape found him breaking curfew, he knew he would get in trouble. In only a few minutes he was outside, curiously watching Luna as she danced on the ice. Up close, he could tell that she was not only smiling, but she was absolutely beaming. The piles of snow covering her already frosty hair didn't bother her as she twirled on the ice like it was her playground. Draco found himself watching with-thought he'd never admit it-some awe.

It took her a moment to realize she had company. "Why hellow there Draco," Luna greeted him airily. "What are you doing out here?" Draco's cheeks instantly turned a bright shade at being caught spying. No need to let her in on that though.

"None of your business Loony!" He snapped at her. Luna didn't even flinch at his retort. That bothered him. "What are you doing outside?"

Luna didn't comment that he'd asked the same question he'd refused to answer. "Skating," She replied. "It is really lovely out here tonight, isn't it?" Lovely? That was absurd. It was freezing cold, the clouds covered all the stars, the snow was coming down hard-

"Would you like to come?"

Draco blinked. "What?"

"Would you like to come skating?" She asked again in a sing-song voice. "It's so much more fun to do with someone else." Draco stared at her. She could not be serious. She wasn't asking him seriously, was she? Why on earth would he choose ice skating in the blistering cold over going back to the warm Slythering common room with Pansy and his friends? Skating with Luna? He'd rather be caught dead! The idea was insane! Why would she even ask him anyway? They weren't supposed to be friends, a fact of life that he was very grateful for. She was so odd and llony, no one in their right mind,

"Oh…I'm sorry." She drew back as a idea came to her. "Is it possible you don't know how to skate?"

"What?" He asked in outrage. Any normal person would have gotten tired of repeating themselves to Draco so many times, but Luna didn't seem to mind.

"Do you not know how to skate?" She asked once again. "It's alright if you don't. It was so rude of me to assume that you could. Oh well," She sighed, sliding on the ice to make circles underneath her. Draco's face felt hot despite the cold. Was…Was she pitying him?

Truth was, he didn't. His father had taken him skating only twice on his mothers insistence that it may someday be useful for him. But his father had eventually won the battle, saying Draco needed to spend his time on more useful things. Draco hadn't complained. He'd always fallen whenever he got on the ice anyway. Why waste his time on ice when he'd rather be in the air showing off his quidditch skills?

But Luna was staring up at him with those big blue eyes. He knew he couldn't say no. His reputation was at stake. "Of..Of course I can skate!" He insisted. "I'm pretty good at it to! Better than what…whatever you were just doing!"

"Really?" Luna replied with innocent fascination. "Can you show me?"

Draco's heart sank. He and his big mouth. "I…Well…I…I-I can't." Luna tipped her head to the side, waiting as he scrambled for some kind of excuse. "To…to skate I need…skates! I don't have any skates at Hogwarts!" once he thought about his clever excape he wondered if students were even allowed to bring skates into the school. Actually, he was fairly certain it wasn't, since the school already have enough potential dangerous weapons with magic and magical creatures that had no problem eating children whole. That's when he caught sight of Luna's skates.

Oh no.

"Why, that's alright," She told him, pulling her want out of the familiar spot behind her ear. "Hermione from Gryffindor taught me a spell to make skates out of ice. Nice person granger, though she can be rude. She said the quibbler is nothing but nonsense. I'd say her mind is filled with Narggles, but that would be most unkind." Because of her muttering she didn't notice Draco's protest as her wand whipped around and sent a trail of ice to the bottom of his shoes. Perfectly stable slabs of ice were attatched to his feet, perfect for skating. "There you are! Now you can come skating!"

What, now?

He wasn't serious.y going to choose skating with Loony Lovegood over the Slythering corriders with Pansy and his friends? It was freezing! Luna over Pansy? Proving that he was a good skater, a sport that he really couldn't care less about, wasn't worth-

"If you don't think you can keep up with me, that's alright. Nothing to be ashamed of."

-He could risk hypothermia.

"Only for a minute you crazy girl," he grunted as he trudged over to the lake. Luna just smiled greatefully. She was the only one he'd met who could ever smile at him after he'd just insulted her to her face. Probably because he was mad. Or at least, that's what he told himself. When he took his first few steps on the ice, he decided he had nothing to worry about. It was easy! All he had to do was walk around a little bit and-

He fell flat on his back.

"Oh my," Luna skated over, staring down at him with wide eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Fine! Fine, I'm absolutely fantastic! Slid on everything and I-I meant to do that!" after a long effort of pushing himself to his feet he tried to move as far away from her as possible. All that did was make him fall forward, flat on his face. "OW!"

"What an interesting skating form," Luna whispered dreamily as he got to his feet once again. He struggled to stay up, waving his hands around like a penguin that was trying to fly. His skates seemed to want to go in every direction except for the one he was trying to go. It was the castle stairways all over again.

He felt his cheeks get bright red when he heard Luna laughing behind him. _She had better not be laughing at me!_ When he turned to call her out, his feet fell out from underneath him. He landed on his knees with a grunt, ignoring the pain that shot through his legs. _Stupid skating, stupid ice, stupid castle, stupid loony, stupid all of it!_ He slammed his fist into the ice in outrage. _That's enough! This is ridiculous! I shouldn't be making a fool of myself! I'm going back inside!_ When he got up, determined to leave however, he was met by Luna's smile.

"Well that is quite an odd form of skating," Luna commented. He couldn't tell if she was oblivious or was just pretending to be. "But it does look quite hard to balance with, doesn't it? Here, I'll help." Before Draco even had a clue as to what was going on, Luna had reached out and taken his hands in hers. Stunned eyes stared through her's in disbelief, but she just smiled pleasantly back at him. Skating backwards, she kept him on his feet, leading him around the lake as the snow fell around them. At first Draco couldn't believe what was happening. After he got over the initial shock, he did his best to keep his balance on his own. With her supporting him he was able to keep on his feet, though he didn't even try to do those tricks Luna had done before. Slowly she had released on of his hands so he could skate on his own. But when she tried to release the other, he protested.

"D-don't let go!" He exclaimed. Luna tilted her head to the side, but didn't argue.

"Alright. That sounds fine." He glanced up. Her twinkling blue eyes started back at him with amusement, and they joy at finding a skating partner. Slowly, his scowl started to die away, and he reluctantly allowed Luna to lead him around the ice.

He blamed the stupid school for getting him lost that day.

But the next time there was a snowstorm, he 'accidentally' went down the wrong path.


	3. Spring

**Spring**

 _Of all the days to have forgotten a coat, why today?_ Ginny grumbled as she glared at the downpour. She should have listened to Hermione and learned a 'no-wet' spell, or whatever she'd called it.

Ginny Weasley sat on the bench underneath a small, wooden roof, waiting for the next carriage. She'd come to hogsmeade with her friend Luna for the afternoon to get some sweets. They were supposed to head back to the school together but half-way through the day Luna had asked if it was alright if they'd part ways. Gunny was alright with being on her own so she didn't object when Luna had danced away. She guessed she was going to go and buy some…er, odd objects that she wouldn't be interested in. Later she had spotted someone she thought was Luna, but quickly decided it wasn't. If it was Luna, who was the blond boy that had been tentatively holding her hand? She decided it had to be someone else and let it fade into her memories.

That would have all been fine. Until it had started to rain.

It was an absolute downpour, so quick and out of nowhere that Ginny was convinced it had to be magic. If it was, she was the only student who hadn't been made aware. All the remaining Hogwarts students had left by the time she had finally found shelter at the stop. That left her on her own, in the downpour, with nothing but the wooden bench and a small shelter to keep her company. _Are there even any more carriages coming?_ She worried, glancing out to get a better glimpse of the road. Surely they hadn't forgotten about her. Dinner was probably done already. Was she going to have to walk? In the rain? She'd be absolutely drenched by the time she got back-assuming the gates wouldn't be closed for the night. If it was Hagrid on duty she might be able to get through, but anyone else…her mother was going to kill her when she found out.

With a loud sigh she stared overhead at the dark clouds. Spring had always been one of her favourite times of the year. Flowers blooming, snow melting, and more chances to practice Quidditch! But obviously, with the good came the bad. And that was in the form of blisteringly cold rain that lightening that shook the windows and cloud that completely shut out the sun. There seemed to be nothing but homework to do on rainy days. Yeah, because Ginny couldn't wait to get that done. Nothing good ever happened to her when it rained. She always had the worst luck. Being stuck in Hogsmeade without so much as a coat and no way home was a good example.

After huffing a bit she forced herself to stand. "Might as well get it over with," she grumbled. "Come on feet. Let's get a cold so you can stay in bed all day feeling completely horrid and,"

"Ginny? Ginny!"

Her head popped up. Coming up on the path wasn't a carriage. It was something much smaller. As it got closer she realized it was a boy, carrying some kind of…tarp? With some effort she recognized it as an umbrella that Hermione had told her about. Some muggle invention for the rain. Before she hadn't understood, but up close she finally realized what it was supposed to do. The rain beaded down the sides, leaving the holder underneath mostly dry. Said holder hurried over, making his figure slowly get clearer. Her first guess was that it was Dean, but she quickly disregarded the thought. They were fighting, and he'd never do something like that for her. Second guess was Ron, and she prepared herself for a wicked scolding the whole way home. The boy who came up to her was neither of those options.

"Harry?"

Harry ran up to an open-mouthed Ginny, panting form the run. His cheeks weren't red thought, it was too cold for that. The Umbrella protected him from the water, but a few drops had sneaked through and there was nothing it could do about the puddles on the ground that had drenched his feet. At least he had a jacket, but even with that he was shivering. Nearly as much as Ginny. "G-Glad I found you."

"What are you d-doing here?" she stuttered as she rubbed her arms for warmth. "I-It's late. How did you know I was,"

"Luna," He explained. "During dinner I noticed you weren't at the table, so I went looking and I found Luna already looking for you. She told me that you'd gone to Hogsmeade together then split up, but she hadn't seen you come back. She also mentioned something about Narggles, and I stopped listening," he added sheepishly while Ginny bit her lip to keep the smile off her face. "Anyway, I got to the gates and Hagrid said you hadn't come back. He said it's okay if I wanted to come and find you as long as I got back quick. He's waiting for us at the gate." So it was Hagrid on duty. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her overactive imagination had led her to think it might have been Snape. THAT would have gone well.

"I'm surprised they l-let you come get me," She admitted as she slipped her bag onto her shoulders. "I'd have thought with the death-eaters out and all…"

"I convinced Hagrid to let me go as long as I brought my wand and invisibility cloak," he explained. "But we've got to get back soon, or else he'll probably send out a search party." They both got a bit of a laugh out of that. Ginny imagined all the professors searching in their pajamas.

"Alright, let's go." As she hurried under the umbrella she realized just how small the area of protection the umbrella offered was. Harry's eyes widened when Ginny came so close she almost touched his chest. Um…by any chance, did you bring another one?"

"Uh…No."

"Oh. Okay then." She moved to his side, ignoring the few raindrops that hit her shoulder. "Under the one umbrella it is." Harry nodded, trying to hide the flush on his cheeks.

On through the rain and mud they went. It was hardly the fantasy that her 12-year old self would have dreamt up. Older Ginny decided to scoff at that version of her. She'd gotten over that crush years ago! She'd moved on, wasn't that obvious? He probably just thought of her as a sister anyway, thanks to her brother being one of his best friends. At least it was better than a swooning fangirl she was sure he's pictured her as when she was younger. Well, she hadn't exactly done much to prove him wrong. Thank goodness she grew out of that.

Harry accidentally stepped in a puddle, splashing both of their already soaking feet. Ginny cursed as she tried to helplessly shake the rain out of her shoes. "Gah! I hate the rain!"

"Really?" She looked up to find Harry eyeing her curiously.

For some reason she felt like she should have been embarrassed. "Er…yes. It gets all over and you can't go outside unless you want to get soaked. Remember that time during my second year when you had to play quidditch out in the rain? Harry nodded, grimacing at the memory. Not so much for the rain as for the Dementors. Sometimes the memory still brought an icy chill to his skin.

"Well…The sunshine is nice…But I do really like the rain."

"Come off it," Ginny turned, causing the umbrella to shake. They were both rewarded with a few drops of rain in their hair. "Why would you like it?" He grumbled as he tried to shake the water away. No need for a shower at least.

"Well-Obviously-I'm not the biggest fan of getting wet," he explained while shaking his head. "But I don't mind the rain. It saved me from a few beatings when I was younger." He could tell by Ginny's stare that he wasn't going to get away with changing the subject after that. "When I was living with the Dursely's, their son Dudley always made me his punching bag. Whenever it would rain I'd be able to run through the rain and find a place to hide in the park. Dudley hated getting wet so I'd be safe. At least until I came home of course," he admitted. "But usually when I came back he was busy with his video games." Ginny didn't even pretend to know who 'video games' were.

"But hiding outside in the rain couldn't have been that much fun either. You must have been freezing!"

There was no argument. "Yeah, I guess so. A few times I'd get a really bad cold at the end. But at least I got a few hours to myself. The dursleys never went looking for me because they didn't want to risk catching a cold. It was kind of nice watching the rain fall. A few times I'd bring some games to play or a book to read. Usually not a good one, since the book would usually have a few wet pages thanks to the rain." He drifted off a bit, going to where Ginny guessed was memory land.

Try as he might to make his memories sound happy, they didn't exactly bring up warm and fuzzy's in Ginny's heart. "Still, you were probably freezing. And I don't see how being out in the park all alone is much fun." Harry paused. The sound of the rain slamming against the ground was the only thing they heard as he examined her words.

"…True," he mumbled. But then, surprising her, he gave her a warm smile. "But I'm not alone in the rain now. So that's nice."

Her eyes widened as a warm feeling slipped into her heart.

The two of them chatted about anything and everything on the way back. They laughed at each other when they stuttered so hard they couldn't understood what they said. Ginny teased her brothers by telling Harry stories from when they were kids. Harry asked to the side why Dean hadn't come to get her, and she said she was glad. Harry had a slight smile on his face when she said that. They had a short, meaningful discussion about what had happened in the chamber of secrets years ago. Neither of them had talked about it to others, but they were able to tell each other what happened since they had both been there. She admitted she'd used to have nightmares about being possessed again, while Harry told her what it was like to try and fight the Basilisk without looking directly at its eyes. Slowly the conversation got warmer, and they almost forgot that they were both drenched to the bone.

True to Harry's word, Hagrid was waiting for them both when they got back. "Blimey, the two o' you both look frozen!" He led them inside the castle. Both of them let out a breath of relief as the warm air of the castle surrounded them. "Well, dontcha go standin' aroun' here, get! Go warm up by a fire!" They didn't need to be told twice.

Freezing and hiding their laughter they rushed up to the Gryffindor tower. It took them three times to get the password right with their chattering teeth and laughter. An annoyed picture begrudgingly let them in and they hurried over to the fire. Luckily it was late, and they had no interruptions. All the other students had gone to bed, leaving the two of them in the common room alone. "I-I should probably go get some sleep," Ginny rubbed her arms to warm herself up. But Harry shook his head stubbornly.

"You should warm up first. C-come sit by the fire for a b-bit at least." Before she could protest he conjured up some butterbeer drinks and pulled out a few blankets. "I-If you go to bed now you'll just freeze." She would have objected…but the butterbeers were awfully tempting.

The two of them wrapped the blankets around them as they sat at the foot of the couch with their feet in front of the fire. The butterbeer slowly disappeared as the two of them took their time drying off. Neither of them said a word while they relaxed. It surprised them both to find that the silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. They actually preferred it. Near the end neither of them could tell how much time had passed. It was likely close to midnight by the time Harry glanced out the window. "It's still raining outside," he mentioned off hand. Ginny glanced up and saw the rain pouring down on the castle. When she'd been out in the rain she'd absolutely loathed it. Every other memory she had of the rain was awful. But for once, things went okay.

Maybe the rain wasn't so bad after all.


	4. Summer

**Summer**

Fred grinned maliciously. It was his favourite time of year. The sun was shining, the bird were out, and most importantly…

No school.

Even as a business man who no longer had to worry about homework and OWL's, that was always one of the best times of year for him. All those kids who were not in school and had nothing to do? They would come on down to the joke store he owned with his brother George. The new business they'd opened was already very popular, thanks to students having to find ways to survive Umbridge back at Hogwarts last year. He and his brother had laughed when they sent back letters of her demise.

That had been about a year ago, yet business was still booming. The schoolyear was just finishing, which meant more customers.

Just as Fred finished restocking the shelf with love potions, he heard the familiar sound of a loud honk. Most people preferred a bell when a customer opened the front doors, but that was just so dull. Besides, honks got your attention more than some tiny bell. "Fred, you got that?" He heard his brother call over the display of a teacher with pink clothes being carried away by two centaurs. That had been a story Fred wished he'd been able to see with his own eyes.

"Sure thing!" he called back. He had to dodge around a few kids who had started playing with their toys and created a 'complete darkness' veil around themselves as he jumped over to the door. It was probably Ginny and Harry. The two of them came around a lot to see how business was doing. Harry's last visit hadn't been so pleasant when George and Fred found the two of them having some 'quality time' at a café across the street. Both of them had decided Ginny had dated much worse…but still decided that they weren't going to make things any easier for Harry. He wanted to date their sister? He'd have to earn it.

In no time at all he was by the front displays, and went searching for the customers. It was always important to make a good impression in front of new customers, and Fred and George always prided themselves in being memorable. Most of the time it was repeat customers, but it never hurt to go and check.

As his eyes surveyed the area, he spotted a pair of heads that he knew he hadn't seen in his store before. Two girls, maybe in Harry's year or a year younger, were looking at the set of fake wands. They wore the Hogwarts uniform though Fred hadn't seen them before. One girl with light brown hair tied into a pony tail had the ravenclaw crest on her chest. The other girl had long blond hair with a pair of black square glasses and a Gryffindor symbol on the front. The girl from Gryffindor looked fascinated, while the other girl checked her watch nervously.

"Don't you think we should be looking for our school books BEFORE we look in the joke shop? We can come back later…Melany, Marina, Natasha and Sofia will be waiting for us at the leaky cauldron soon…" But the other girl just shook her head.

"Raven, we've got TONS of time. Besides, how do you expect me to go to the school year without a few tricks up my sleeve?" The other girl shook her head, but didn't pursue the topic. While most customers just came in out of curiosity, he admired one who came specifically for tricks to bring to school.

Both girls looked up as Fred walked over. "Hello there, Fred weasley, store owner at your service. How can I help you lovely girls this evening?" The girl from ravenclaw named Raven, go figure, tried to say that they were just looking around. But the other girl gave an almost devilish grin. Oh Fred was going to like her.

"Yeah, hi. I'm looking for something I can use on my brother," Raven stared at her.

"Katrina!"

"I mean, my teachers."

"KATRINA!"

"What? Would you rather me lie?" Raven rolled her eyes but couldn't come up with an argument. Fred watched the exchange while biting his lip to keep from laughing. Katrina smirked and shook her head. "Fine. How about I need a reason to ditch classes. Is that better?"

"Not when you shouldn't be ditching classes it isn't," Raven grumbled under her breath.

"Sometimes taking a break or two is good for you," Fred interjected, catching both their attention. "If you are looking for some school supplies, I'd suggest some of our best sellers." Raven raised a single eyebrow skeptically. Katrina on the other hand looked overjoyed.

"Can they get me out of class?"

Fred grinned. "There would be no point if they couldn't."

"Lead the way!"

In no time at all Fred had shown Katrina nearly all of the displays, bringing a reluctantly curious Raven along for the ride. Fred showed Katrina how to use the shoes that walked on walls, some of the 'chocolates' that really made a tongue grow longer and the quills that would never write anything. She had gathered a bag full of stuff by the time he brought them over to the sculptures. They both laughed at the display of Umbridge being carried away. "If I'd made it, I would have made the centaurs actually move, and have Umbridge trying to escape desperately." When she noticed Fred looking at her she shrugged. "I just really like making sculptures. That's just how I'd do it if I got the chance."

"You an artist then?"

"Yeah, I'd say so," Katrina shrugged.

Raven laughed at her bored response. "She's an amazing artist! The best in our year!" Katrina mumbled something about not being that good, but Raven just told her not to be so modest. Fred considered her for a moment. Neither he nor his brothers weren't so much as 'artists' as the ones who destroyed the art. Chaos was their form of art, but making the art wasn't either of their areas of expertise. George had been saying they should hire someone to come in and help decorate the place properly, but Fred had never really liked any of the artists they'd brought in. None of them had the 'troublemaking' spirit. It only took a few minutes with the girl to realize she definitely fit the bill.

"You know…If you want, my brother and I are looking to hire a sculptor to help us decorate the store properly. If you wanted to, you could bring in some art to show us what you can do and maybe you could be that designer." Katrina stared at him in surprise.

"What, seriously?"

"I'm hardly ever serious, but today I plead guilty." He decided to take her beaming smile as a yes.

About an hour later they finally found themselves over in the 'girls' section. Fred laughed when both the girls shuddered at all the pink around them. Raven glanced curiously at the pink bottles that held the centre display. "Are these potions? What kind are they?" She sniffed at one curiously. "That smells like raspberries and raindrops."

"These," he reached around her to take a bottle and hold it out for them both to see. "Are love potions. Good for about 24 hours, with no medical side effects and an added antidote in case of regrets. You got anyone special you'd like to use this on Raven?"

Raven's face turned a bright shade of red. "N-no," She stuttered, turning from the display when Katrina hid her laughter. Embarrassed, Raven mumbled some excuse about going back to see the 'eternal darkness' display before hurrying away. Fred and Katrina were left alone temporarily.

Before he could really think about it, he snatched Katrina's hand from her side. "Here," He placed the small potion that had been in his hand in hers. "It's on the house."

"Um…sure…what for?" Katrina asked, torn between bewilderment and curiosity.

Fred smirked despite his inner turmoil. _She's right. What for? Why'd you give this stranger a free product? George is going to want details._ But he didn't have details. He really didn't know. "Oh, er…you never know when you'll need one of these. Besides, I get the feeling that I'm putting it in good hands." Still holding her hand he forced her hand to close around it. "Promise to use it to cause trouble?"

"Deal!" Katrina grinned, pocketing the small vial. "I'll make sure all my favourite couples get together. Whether they want to or not!" Other people may have been afraid of that talk. But Fred just grinned in anticipation.

Eventually they found Raven reading some books on 'how to poison but not kill,' then the three headed over to the cash desk. George raised his eyebrow at his brother when she said that the potion was on the house. Raven also gave her friend an odd look, but didn't say anything. It was one of those looks that girls gave that said, we-are-talking-about-this-later. When she thought the boys weren't looking Katrina stuck her tongue out at her. "How about you come by sometime next week to see if you can do the job?" Katrina nodded, happily sliding her new tools into her bag.

"Sounds great. I'll see you later then!" The girl followed her friend out the door, and Fred watched her walk down the street over to the bookstore to meet their friends. It took him a moment to notice that his brother was patiently waiting for him to turn around.

"A love potion on the house, hmmmmm?" George teased his brother. Fred laughed, refusing to be bothered by his brothers probing.

"She likes mischief, I'm just helping her out."

George nodded, but it was added with a dubious expression. "Uh-huh. I'm guessing we're going to be seeing her a lot more this summer, aren't we?" Fred was surprised at how excited he was about this realization.

Summer was definitely the best time of year.

 **Happy birthday my friend! Hope you liked it!**


End file.
